Video: Inventor has device to harness power from rivers without dams

Monday

Armed with an open-ended 55-gallon drum and a used boat propeller from eBay, Northborough inventor Richard Burton plans to bring hydroelectric power to the masses, no dam required.

Armed with an open-ended 55-gallon drum and a used boat propeller from eBay, Northborough inventor Richard Burton plans to bring hydroelectric power to the masses, no dam required.

"Anywhere you get flow you can throw it in," the 67-year-old said of his Hydrokinetic Cogenerator prototype. The device is designed for an alternative energy market he predicts will surge when fuel prices rocket back up. "People are going to be screaming for green power."

While the majority of hydroelectric power in the country comes from dams, critics contend that the structures harm rivers and wildlife, with new applications facing numerous regulatory hurdles.

In contrast, Burton said, his device is not only easily removed, but also low-impact: Simply toss the Cogenerator into an average river and plug it into the grid.

In theory, the current should turn a propeller attached to a steel shaft, moving gears and causing an induction motor like the ones in washing machines to rotate faster than it normally would. That, Burton said, should generate electricity, potentially a steady 3 kilowatts' worth.

The genesis for the idea, Burton said, came from browsing the Web for green energy business ideas and discovering a Gloucester firm called Free Flow Power showcasing designs for large turbines attached to bridge pilings and independent river moorings.

Seeking a cheaper and smaller approach, Burton said he looked for a round container at Arland Tool and Manufacturing, a Sturbridge firm where he repairs machine electronics. He quickly spied one of the company's ubiquitous 55-gallon drums.

"The object of this game is to make it with off-the-shelf, mature technology," Burton said, showing off his prototype during a recent tour of the small work space Arland lets him use. "We're working on a shoestring here."

Burton said he turned his rough design over to Arland colleague Russell Gagnon, who penciled in some computations and a schematic on a scrap of adding machine paper. A perfectly sized bronze propeller was later found on eBay for $250.

"That's what it's all about," Gagnon said. "Keeping it simple."

Burton said he is considering a tentative sale price of $1,500 to $2,000.

Told of the Cogenerator prototype, outside engineer Ludwig Haber said the concept seems viable, as a number of firms are designing "hydrokinetic" turbines that don't require river diversion or damming.

Doing a rough calculation, though, Haber said a 2-foot-wide turbine would likely produce just 500 watts from an average river, not much when compared to the 5-kilowatt, fuel-driven generators that power homes in emergencies.

"It's not total chump change, but it's relatively small," said Haber, who works for Alden Research Laboratory, a Holden firm that studies hydraulics. He added that he was not endorsing Burton's potential product and had not seen it.

While hydroelectric power provides just 10 percent of the nation's supply, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has voiced support for dam-less and diversion-less projects, predicting that they can help double the supply of water-derived green power.

Part of what makes his design attractive, Burton said, is that it weighs just 200 pounds and can be taken in and out of rivers by two men with a pickup truck and ropes. He said he has a handshake agreement with Arland to make the turbines, hoping to have a small team producing them in six months or so.

But there's a catch, said Catherine Williams, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Users will need to secure permits from the regulatory commission and the departments of environmental protection and fish and game. Protected rivers would require further approval, she said.

Burton said he still needs to build a cone for the upstream end of his prototype to deflect debris and fish, as well as figure out whether the turbine needs floats or a stand to raise it above the riverbed. He then needs to test the device, most likely in a river behind the Arland factory.